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Top 5 Wednesday: January 4, 2017

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2017 Goals

These do not need to be reading goals specifically, they can be any goals you want to talk about. Reading goals, blog/channel/instagram goals, personal goals…anything!
To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, just head over to their Goodreads Group and join the fun!

  1. Read 75 50 books in 2017 (Goal changed as of June, because I’m having major depression reading slumps this year…)
  2. Start writing book reviews
  3. Get my home library set up again
  4. Force myself to reread ACOTAR (instead of just skipping it and going to ACOMAF) so I can make a post listing every warning sign of Tamlin being a bad guy because a lot of people haven’t noticed them and have asked me to point them out
  5. Make more original posts Make more posts for each book I read

First Lines Fridays: December 30, 2016

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First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Line:

She didn’t know which hurt more – the ice or the fire.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine

Sixteen-year-old Elli was only a child when the Elders of Kupari chose her to succeed the Valtia, the queen who wields infinitely powerful ice and fire magic in service of her people. The only life Elli has known has been in the temple, surrounded by luxury, tutored by magic-wielding priests, preparing for the day when the queen perishes—and the ice and fire find a new home in Elli, who is prophesied to be the most powerful Valtia to ever rule.

But when the queen dies defending the kingdom from invading warriors, the magic doesn’t enter Elli. It’s nowhere to be found.

Disgraced, Elli flees to the outlands, home of banished criminals—some who would love to see the temple burn with all its priests inside. As she finds her footing in this new world, Elli uncovers devastating new information about the Kupari magic, those who wield it, and the prophecy that foretold her destiny. Torn between her love for her people and her growing loyalty to the banished, Elli struggles to understand the true role she was meant to play. But as war looms, she must choose the right side before the kingdom and its magic are completely destroyed.

The Impostor Queen was recommended to me by a friend, but I don’t know much more than the summary and their promise that I’d love it.

If you’ve read this one, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

First Lines Fridays: December 23, 2016

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First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Line:

Novalee Nation, seventeen, seven months pregnant, thirty-seven pounds overweight – and superstitious about sevens – shifted uncomfortably in the seat of the old Plymouth and ran her hands down the curve of her belly.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts

Talk about unlucky sevens. An hour ago, seventeen-year-old, seven months pregnant Novalee Nation was heading for California with her boyfriend. Now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, with just $7.77 in change. But Novalee is about to discover hidden treasures in this small Southwest town – a group of down-to-earth, deeply caring people willing to help a homeless, jobless girl living secretly in a Wal-Mart. From Bible-thumping blue-haired Sister Thelma Husband to eccentric librarian Forney Hull who loves Novalee more than she loves herself, they are about to take her – and you, too – on a moving, funny, and unforgettable journey to… Where the Heart Is.

Where the Heart Is has been on my TBR for a while. I actually found it because I saw the movie. I have high hopes for it.

If you’ve read this book, I’d really love to hear your thoughts.

Top 5 Wednesday: December 21, 2016

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Fictional Items You’d Give as Gifts

We’ve talked about fictional items we’ve wanted for ourselves before, but in the holiday spirit, what fictional items would you give to friends and family?
To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, just head over to their Goodreads Group and join the fun!

  1. I definitely want a Self-Writing or Quick-Quotes quill for my mother who is a writer, but struggles to type or write longhand on many days due to a nasty combination of arthritis, carpal tunnel, and bone cancer. With this type of quill she could dictate to it on her more pain-filled days.
  2. For my husband the Herbal from The Tale of Birle (’On Fortune’s Wheel’), it depicts detailed information about any plants that can be used for healing including how to grow them, how to use them, and pictures of each stage of growth.
  3. The amazing portable art supply kit that Tamlin gives Feyre in ACoMaF, described as 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide and jam packed with compartments holding everything an artist on-the-go could need, for Em.
  4. The magic tablecloth from The Two Princesses of Bamarre, which you need only shake out and ask for any meal, for my husband.
  5. Some U-No-Poo (Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes) for every member of my husband’s family.

First Lines Fridays: December 16, 2016

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First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Line:

Perhaps because it seems so appropriate, I don’t notice the rain.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

An ancient prophecy divides two sisters-
One good…
One evil…
Who will prevail?
Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents’ deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.
Lia and Alice don’t know whom they can trust.
They just know they can’t trust each other.

This one has been on my TBR for at least a year, but I never seem to get around to it somehow. I’ve heard great things about it though and the summary intrigues me. I hope to get to it soon.

If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Top 5 Wednesday: December 14, 2016

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Series That Got Worse with Each Book/Season

I opened this topic up to TV as well (which T5W is always open to by the way if you can’t think of book answers), but I think this topic is especially good for books and TV. What series started out strong but got increasingly worse with each book?  To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, just head over to their Goodreads Group and join the fun!

  1. Maze Runner Series // James Dashner
  2. Divergent Series // Veronica Roth
  3. The Inheritance Cycle // Christopher Paolini
  4. Gone Series // Michael Grant
  5. FUCKING MAZE FUCKING RUNNER

What book (or tv) series did you think started well enough, but just seemed to get worse and worse with each subsequent installment?

First Lines Friday: December 9, 2016

LeeLeave a comment

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Line:

The shutters swinging in the storm winds were the only sign of her entry.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

I’m rereading the Throne of Glass series, of which this is the second book. I needed to reread it to get my head in the world for Empire of Storms. I like Celaena quite a bit for a character I can only barely identify with.

Top 5 Wednesday: December 7, 2016

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Books You Want to Finally Read in 2017

These are those books you meant to read in 2016 or 2015 or 2014 and never got around to. Those books that have been sitting on your TBR for a while, and you really want to get to. These aren’t upcoming 2017 releases; these are older books that need your love too!

  1. Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
  2. Persuasion by Jane Austen *Finished October 2017; Persuasion Project*
  3. Ophelia by Lisa Klein
  4. Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink *Finished February 2017; Review*
  5. Hick by Andrea Portes

If you’ve read any of these, please feel free to reblog or send me an ask with your thoughts!

To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, just head over to their Goodreads Group and join the fun!

What Are You Reading Wednesdays: December 7, 2016

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What Are You Reading Wednesdays #WAYRW is a weekly feature on It’s A Reading Thing. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Grab the book you are currently reading and answer three questions:

  1. What’s the name of your current read?
  2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a couple of sentences.
  3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

  1. The Tale of Oriel (Tales of the Kingdom book 3, previously published as ‘The Wings of a Falcon’)
  2. He held the whip that and made those marks, and drawn that blood, and he was ashamed. He held the whip that could make more marks on the flesh of Nikol’s back. While Nikol begged.
  3. Not in Oriel’s book! No way! I don’t want any of Oriel’s adventures, not at all. He works so hard to find a place they can be safe and free, not have to hurt anyone or be hurt themselves, but this is not an easy task outside of The Kingdom, and I want no part of it.

First Lines Fridays: December 2, 2016

LeeLeave a comment

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Line:

He knew from the first that this man would know how to hurt him.

Interested? Scroll down for the cover and summary!

The Tale of Oriel by Cynthia Voigt

The prospect of freedom is weighted with danger in this tale of high adventure, the third book in the Tales of the Kingdom series from Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt.

Oriel has always stood out as someone who would not bend. No matter how much he has had to endure, the Damall’s cruelty cannot corrupt him. Griff, a boy who has watched and admired Oriel, is the opposite. He has learned to keep out of sight, to bow in the face of force. Yet the two became friends, and together they escaped from the terrors of the island and take with them the Damall’s most prized relic—the beryl, a green gemstone engraved with a falcon, its wings unfolding. But as they seek a new life, it’s not as easy as they’d hoped, for ahead lie raiding Wolfers, rival armies, and unspeakable dangers…

Previously published as The Wings of a Falcon, this classic tale features a new look and a new title.

This is a reread, but I haven’t read it since high school so it doesn’t feel like one. It’s different from the others in the series in that the main character is a boy. He also thinks in a different way than the girls from the other three books. I really enjoy the way he thinks things out, simplistic but insightful, obviously young, but not at all stupid. Oriel is constantly thinking out how to make his life, and Griff’s better, how to secure their freedom and safety in any situation. And as with all the Kingdom novels, I love finding the references to things from the previous novels.

The Tales of the Kingdom books are a loosely-connected series of non-magical middle-grade fantasy.